WhatsApp has become the favorite playground for cybercriminals. For example, one of the tactics that you have surely already encountered is to initiate contact with the victim through a message sent from another country and from prefixes such as +62 —Indonesia—, +685 —Western Samoa— or +27 —South Africa—, among others.
But this does not stop here and there are examples of scams of all kinds. From offers of 5 euros to watch a video—which hides a pyramid scam—to false job offers that only seek to steal personal data.
The truth is that this is just the tip of the iceberg and With 2,000 million around the world, it is really easy to get someone to fall into one of the many traps that circulate through this app. According to the Italian Postal Police, more than 16,000 cases of online scams were registered in 2023, 6% more than the previous year. The loot for criminals is no less than 137 million euros.
But why do people fall so easily into these traps? The answer lies in social engineering, a set of techniques that exploit your psychological weaknesses. And all the previous examples have something in common: they play with our emotions and pressure us to act quickly, without thinking.
Scams on WhatsApp increase, taking advantage of social engineering to deceive users
Danilo Cimino, a computer expert with experience at CERN in Geneva, explains it this way to The Journal: “These scams are based on old and proven schemes. Criminals pose as trusted people, such as bank employees or family members in need, to get personal information or money from us.”
Taking this into account, What can you do as a user? How can you avoid falling? There are some red flags: offers that are too good to be true, requests for personal information, messages from foreign numbers or texts with grammatical errors and suspicious links. If you see something like this, set off all your alarms.
The golden rule: never share security codes or personal information on WhatsApp. If you suspect a message, block and report the number. And don’t forget to protect your smartphone with PIN or biometric recognition, and activate two-factor authentication on your accounts.
But be careful, Cimino warns: “WhatsApp’s end-to-end encryption protects the privacy of messages, but it cannot prevent scams. The best defense remains our critical sense.” In other words, use your brain before pressing any button.
And if, despite everything, you fall into one of these traps, don’t be ashamed. As the expert says, “anyone can be a victim of a scam.” The important thing is to act quickly, so report it to the police immediately.
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Tags: Smartphones, Apps, WhatsApp, Cybersecurity